Take steps to protect yourself. In September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made public some startling statistics on identity theft. According to its survey data, 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the past five years, and a whopping 9.9 million people have joined this unfortunate list in the past year. In 2002, identity theft cost consumers $5 billion and businesses nearly $48 billion.

"For several years we have been seeing anecdotal evidence that identity theft is a significant problem that is on the rise," says Howard Beales, an FTC director. "Now we know."

In response to the problems, The Coalition on Online Identity Theft was recently formed by Amazon.com, eBay, Microsoft Corp., Network Associates Technology, RSA Security, VeriSign, Visa, WholeSecurity, and Zone Labs. In the coming months, the coalition will issue advisories, seeking to take a bite out of crime.

About the Author

Sebastian Rupley is Editorial Director for PCMagCast, PC Magazine's channel for live Web seminars and online events on tech topics for consumers and small businesses. Previously, he was West Coast Editor of PC Magazine for over a decade, where he oversaw news and feature stories for the publication, and represented the brand on panels and at confer... See Full Bio

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